Okay, should've remembered Shockley, but it feels kind of nice that I'd already forgotten him. The other two seem like they're lost in the noise -- once you're a Big Name, it can be pretty hard to control the ego.

I love a good story as much as the next guy... tell me about infidelity, about how Einstein married is cousin and cheated on her. Good stuff... allows people to be people, without the deification that occurs.

The most interesting question is why do we idolize PEOPLE? We know that they have faults, like us, or anyone else... yet we attempt to make them PERFECT.

This same thing happens with celebrities. Michael Jackson or Woody Allen or Michael Jordan. I say, LET PEOPLE BE PEOPLE!

They are GOOD at their JOB... being a scientist... or a basketball player... or a musician... THEY ARE NOT FAULTLESS GODS!

Who are these weak minded people who need to idolize others, to such a Disney extent, that once they find out their faults, the whole image of the person is broken.Why do we do this as a society?Why can't we accept that smart / talented people are PEOPLE with FAULTS... they are NOT heroes, idols, or role-models of perfection.

List fails without Tycho Brahe. When you go through life with a metal nose because your natural one was cut off in duel with your third cousin over an academic disagreement, you might have an attitude problem.

EngineerAU:List fails without Tycho Brahe. When you go through life with a metal nose because your natural one was cut off in duel with your third cousin over an academic disagreement, you might have an attitude problem.

Tycho Brahe also died of a burst bladder. Because he didn't want to be seen having bad manners. And that definitely isn't a nice way of dying.

A compelling case can be made that Newton's increasingly erratic and belligerent behavior later in life was attributable to an accumulated dosage of mercury, which he used in his alchemical work. After his exhumation, testing revealed massive amounts of mercury in his body.

(The same Wikipedia section suggests Franklin did not harbour obvious ill-will against Watson, but she may have not realized she was being screwed out of a Nobel Prize, not cared as long as she got to Do Science, or simply decided to be the bigger (wo)man...)

Much like Edison, it will be decades until the scientific dicks of our time are unmasked and ridiculed.

/and aspartame is easily the most insidious scientific fraud of our time

Entertaining side note: Aspartame was discovered as a sweetener when a chemist working on an ulcer medication licked his fingers to grab a piece of paper and noticed how sweet it was.

Also saccharin and sucralose also came from poor laboratory safety.

Dr Albert Hoffman had similar issues with LSD; he didn't know it was absorbed through the skin or even what the chemical might do, so he ended up taking the first trip during his bicycle ride home from the lab.

Not according to all of our Elementary School teachers... Hell, they even call him an "inventor" in nearly everything about him, when really all he was was a a businessman, like you said. He hired people and then stole their ideas, and history gives HIM the credit for inventing them.

Sure, some have pointed out that this is becoming well known, but it's still important to let people know about this as often as possible, until history accurately portrays the slimeball...

Mikey1969:Not according to all of our Elementary School teachers... Hell, they even call him an "inventor" in nearly everything about him, when really all he was was a a businessman, like you said. He hired people and then stole their ideas, and history gives HIM the credit for inventing them.

The real reassessment of Edison started in the 1970s. When I was in elementary school, we were given the standard rags-to-riches story; by the time I got to high school Edison was being portrayed as a showman and self-promoter who knew how to hire the right people and to throw money at it.

When I went to his lab in East Orange as a kid, about 1990, the Park guides were clear that Edison didn't invent the phonograph (the one invention attributed as being solely his own work). Back in the 1970s, a historian had found that a Frenchman had discovered how to transcribe sound waves onto a paper or glass disc. His article on the subject was published in an obscure French journal, so most Edison supporters claimed he could never have seen it.

Until the Park Service inventoried Edison's library in the 1980s and found... a full run of that obscure French journal. Edison had once again found someone else's idea and improved on it.

Dwight_Yeast:Mikey1969: Not according to all of our Elementary School teachers... Hell, they even call him an "inventor" in nearly everything about him, when really all he was was a a businessman, like you said. He hired people and then stole their ideas, and history gives HIM the credit for inventing them.

The real reassessment of Edison started in the 1970s. When I was in elementary school, we were given the standard rags-to-riches story; by the time I got to high school Edison was being portrayed as a showman and self-promoter who knew how to hire the right people and to throw money at it.

When I went to his lab in East Orange as a kid, about 1990, the Park guides were clear that Edison didn't invent the phonograph (the one invention attributed as being solely his own work). Back in the 1970s, a historian had found that a Frenchman had discovered how to transcribe sound waves onto a paper or glass disc. His article on the subject was published in an obscure French journal, so most Edison supporters claimed he could never have seen it.

Until the Park Service inventoried Edison's library in the 1980s and found... a full run of that obscure French journal. Edison had once again found someone else's idea and improved on it.

It was when I was at college in '01 that I really heard about Edison for the first time. Interesting that it dovetails so nicely with everyone finally being aware of Tesla and insisting that he get the recognition he deserves...

Even though the Supremes gave him his patent rights in the 40's,they were still teaching that Marconi invented the radio in the late '70s/early 80's when I was in school...

It's amazing how bad our science textbooks are. I was still being taught that the phases of the moon were caused by the Earth's shadow, that it didn't rotate at all, and that the change in seasons was due to the difference in distance from the Earth tilting towards or away from the Sun.

God, and they tell us that it's the history textbooks that we need to watch out for.

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